Indonesia hit by magnitude 7.3 earthquake, tsunami warning lifted
The quake triggered a tsunami warning for around two hours. (Image: Screengrab from USGS)
JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities urged caution on Tuesday (Apr 25) as residents returned gradually to their homes in western Sumatra after being rattled by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake and several aftershocks.
The earthquake, which took place out at sea at about 3am, triggered a tsunami warning that was lifted two hours later. There were no reports of casualties.
Residents in Padang, a city on the west coast of Sumatra, said they had panicked as tsunami warning sirens wailed and forced evacuation to higher ground in the middle of the night.
"We just ran because we heard there was a tsunami. I just brought my family, we didn't bring anything else," Hendra, a Padang resident who goes by one name, said while in an evacuation zone.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) earlier pegged the quake at 6.9 magnitude.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said authorities were collecting data from the islands nearest the epicentre off the western shore of Sumatra, spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.
In Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, the quake was felt strongly, and some people moved away from the beaches, said Abdul, who was in Padang.
"People left their homes. Some were panicking but under control. Currently some of them are evacuating away from the sea," he said, adding he had seen no damage so far.
Local news footage showed some Padang residents evacuating by motorbike and foot to higher ground. Some carried backpacks while others huddled together under an umbrella against the rain.
"On the Siberut island, people had already been evacuated. They have been told to stay at the evacuation area until tsunami warning is lifted," Noviandri, a local official told TvOne.
The national disaster mitigation agency urged residents to stay alert and ensure that home exits remained unblocked in case people needed to rush outside again.
"Especially for people living in coastal areas, if there is an earthquake that lasts more than 30 seconds, please immediately go to a higher place to anticipate the possibility of a tsunami," it said in a statement.
The agency said there were power outages in some parts of the Mentawai Islands, which were closest to the epicentre.
Several aftershocks were recorded and a tide gauge at Tana Bala island off the western Sumatra coast recorded an 11-centimetre rise in water levels after the main quake, it added.
Padang and West Sumatra province were struck by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in 2009 that killed more than 1,100 people, injured many more and caused widespread destruction.
Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes because it straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone where different plates of the earth's crust meet.
